BRANDON, SD (August 27, 2024) – Another huge stop on the Summer of Money awaits the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars this weekend.
The rescheduled BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards invites The Greatest Show on Dirt back to Huset’s Speedway for three nights (Aug. 30-Sept. 1) of action with major money up for grabs.
It kicks off with Friday’s $25,000-to-win Huset’s Hustle presented by Folkens Brothers Trucking. Then a $15,000-to-win High Bank Nationals prelim on Saturday sets the stage for Sunday’s finale with $100,000 being deposited in the winner’s bank account.
With so much money on the line, the weekend is expected to bring a healthy roster of the country’s best Sprint Car drivers to the pit area. Huset’s Speedway is the place to be over Labor Day weekend.
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Let’s look at the weekend’s top storylines:
MONEY MAN: When the large bags of cash are up for grabs, it’s been hard to stop David Gravel in 2024. His earnings this year with the Big Game Motorsports team have already eclipsed $600,000, roughly $160,000 more than the sport’s second highest earner this season.
The biggest contributor toward Gravel’s lucrative year was a nearly $300,000 week at Eldora Speedway in July that included his first Kings Royal crown worth $175,000. He also made history during that stretch as the first Sprint Car driver to take home six-digit paychecks from three different racetracks with Knoxville Raceway and Huset’s Speedway being the other two.
And speaking of that Huset’s payday, it came in the form of last year’s High Bank Nationals title. Gravel heads into the weekend looking to make the boss proud once again as his car owner Tod Quiring also owns Huset’s and has invested so much into making the 1/3 mile one of the country’s premier facilities.
Overall, the Watertown, CT native has topped a trio of Huset’s races with the World of Outlaws. His résumé suggests a high chance of success this weekend as he continues the march toward a potential million-dollar season.
HAUD’S HUNGRY: There’s one driver on the World of Outlaws tour that may be hungrier to break into Victory Lane than any other, and his name is Sheldon Haudenschild.
After topping seven of the first 27 races this year, he’s gone winless over the last 21. The speed has been there, but Victory Lane has simply eluded the Wooster, OH driver. Since his last win, Haudenschild has podiumed nine times including the last four races. Five of those have been second place finishes.
Haudenschild has stated he and the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing team’s goal of reaching double-digit wins for the first time, and Huset’s serves up a prime opportunity for them to not only end the slump, but also pad their wallets. Back in 2020 Haudenschild won when the Series returned to the South Dakota oval for the first time in four years. Then in 2022 he made an unbelievable charge from sixth to victory in the final five laps to top the inaugural High Bank Nationals for $100,000.
$CHATZ: While Gravel’s bank account may be the one most growing in 2024, Donny Schatz has been the biggest earner in the history of the sport when it comes to six-figure paydays.
The Fargo, ND legend has won 13 of the sport’s 54 races that paid at least $100,000. Schatz first cashed in at Eldora’s Historical Big One in 2002, broke the bank with 11 Knoxville Nationals, and added to his riches with the 2023 Kings Royal. Add it all up, and Schatz has totaled $1,775,000 in those 13 events alone.
Huset’s presents Schatz an opportunity to replicate the feat Gravel accomplished earlier this year. A victory on Sunday would make the 10-time champion the second driver to collect six-figure paydays at three different dirt tracks. Schatz is already a four-time Feature winner at Huset’s, topping visits in 2001, 2007, 2015, and 2016.
ROTH REDEMPTION: Last year left Michael “Buddy” Kofoid and Roth Motorsports wondering what could’ve been. Mechanical woes with less than 10 laps remaining knocked them from the lead and a potential High Bank Nationals title to a heartbreaking DNF.
It’s all about redemption heading into the event this year as Kofoid now rolls in as a World of Outlaws rookie. After coming so close last year, his sights will be squarely on a redemptive victory.
Huset’s is home to Kofoid’s first career World of Outlaws win back in 2022. The Penngrove, CA gasser also topped a pair of USAC National Midget races at Huset’s that same year. He’s been overall consistent in a Sprint Car at the 1/3 mile with podiums in half of his 10 starts.
HIGH BANK HOPEFULS: The four listed above aren’t the only current Series competitors who’ve experienced Huset’s success and will be in search of some serious coin this weekend.
Carson Macedo topped a Huset’s visit in 2022 during a High Bank Nationals prelim with Jason Johnson Racing. He’s missed the top 10 just once in his last nine visits to the South Dakota oval. Macedo is fresh off a North Dakota weekend sweep, and he’s won three of the last four races.
Last year Logan Schuchart grabbed his first Huset’s win by topping the final High Bank Nationals prelim. He’s been in the top 10 in 11 of his last 14 tries at the facility with Shark Racing. Schuchart is no stranger to big paydays having topped the richest race in the sport’s history at last year’s Eldora Million.
HUSET’S HEROES: Along with the full-time stars on the World of Outlaws tour, a hefty batch of competitors is expected to join and chase the big money. Among them are plenty with Huset’s success under their belt.
Ryan Timms enters the weekend as the track’s most recent 410 Sprint Car winner. He took Guy Forbrook’s car to Victory Lane in Sunday’s Bull Haulers Brawl for $7,000. The Oklahoman will be teamed with Forbrook again this weekend but only for Friday and Saturday as a prior commitment requires his presence on Sunday.
Garet Williamson and the Fischer Motorsports team have won in their two most recent visits to Huset’s (July 7 and July 28). The Columbia, MO native is fresh off recovering from a Heat Race flip to a top 10 at Red River Valley with the World of Outlaws. He’ll continue an eight-week stretch with the World of Outlaws this weekend at Huset’s.
Tim Kaeding plans to be in Dave Lunstra’s ride for the weekend. The pairing already topped a local Huset’s show this year on May 27. “TK” has also been to World of Outlaws Victory Lane at Huset’s, winning with Roth Motorsports back in 2013.
Kerry Madsen has been a frequent visitor to Huset’s all year with Vermeer Motorsports. The “Mad Man” has been close to a World of Outlaws win at the facility no matter what car he’s in as he’s run third with both Keneric Racing (2014) and Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing (2021) and grabbed a fourth in Dave Helm’s Selma Shell No. 11H in 2007.
These four will be joined by many more for three nights of South Dakota Sprint Car racing.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
WHEN AND WHERE
Friday-Sunday, Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD
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CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (48/70 Races):
1. David Gravel – Big Game Motorsports No. 2 (6636 PTS)
2. Donny Schatz – Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 (-110 PTS)
3. Carson Macedo – Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 (-114 PTS)
4. Giovanni Scelzi – KCP Racing No. 18 (-222 PTS)
5. Michael Kofoid – Roth Motorsports No. 83 (-282 PTS)
6. Sheldon Haudenschild – Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing No. 17 (-332 PTS)
7. Logan Schuchart – Shark Racing No. 1S (-340 PTS)
8. Bill Balog – B Squared Motorsports No. 17B (-812 PTS)
9. Brock Zearfoss – Brock Zearfoss Racing No. 3Z (-1062 PTS)
10. Kraig Kinser – Premier Motorsports No. 70 (-1346 PTS)